Controls Needed On Aid Funds

May 8, 1986

WHEN U.S. DOLLARS are sent in the form of aid to a foreign country, the U.S. government must ensure that those dollars are spent for the purpose intended and do not find their way into someone`s private bank account.

As much as $1.5 billion distributed by the Agency for International Development in fiscal year 1984 may have been wasted or diverted because of inadequate controls, the General Accounting Office reports.

Officials of AID hotly dispute the GAO findings. According to Deputy AID administrator Jay Morris, the agency has ``rigorous controls and we are accounting for where the money is going.``

Considering the recent documented stories of foreign aid abuse in the Philippines and in Haiti, however, the concern over theft of U.S. aid money is legitimate.

In reviewing AID accounts, GAO officials say there is ``no way`` the Philippine government ``can probably ever account for`` much of the economic aid it received.

The GAO report specifically referred to $92.5 million given the Marcos regime in 1984 and 1985. The money, GAO said, was co-mingled in accounts with Philippine pesos, making it impossible to track.

As one staffer on Capitol Hill noted: ``There was no way to tell if the money was spent legitimately or if the Philippine government printed up pesos and dumped them into the account and then took the U.S. dollars and spent them on New York real estate.``

According to Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass, the GAO report ``underscores fundamental problems with our foreign aid program. We don`t know what our aid is being used for and we aren`t even trying to find out . . . The present system is based on trust.``

Members of Congress should listen to Kennedy. Reforms are past due, and less trust and more control is needed.

U.S. officials must demand strict accountability on the spending of foreign aid funds. Taxpayers have the right to know their money is being used properly, rather than ending up in the Swiss bank account of some foreign official.